2023-2024 Game 22: San Diego Gulls at Rockford Icehogs

After putting an absolute beating on the Icehogs the night before the San Diego Gulls braced for a response from the wounded central division foe.

Giving Robert Hagg the night off, Matt McIlvane went back to the traditional 12/6 format – bringing Jaxen Wiebe and Travis Howe back in on the fourth line. All other pairings and lines remained the same. Suchanek was given his third straight start in net after back to back dominating wins and the shutout the night before.

First Period:

The Icehogs did indeed have a step to start the early proceedings and not only threw everything they could physically at the Gulls, they also took every opportunity they could to put a chance on Suchanek.

As line after line for the Gulls struggled to get much transition game going it was left to the Gaucher line to stem the tide and that they did, drawing a call on an offensive push to give the Gulls the first Power Play of the game.

Rockford were able to kill the minor and went right back on the attack, generating two high quality chances against the Gulls fourth line who appeared to have no answer for their speed and use of space. Only Suchanek and some last minute efforts from the defense were able to keep the game scoreless.

It wasn’t only the fourth line that had issues in their own zone as both the Perreault and Gawdin lines saw some trouble while time ticked over on the period. Rockford looking increasingly the more likely of the two to open the scoring and reward their fans with a teddy bear toss.

A final push from the Perreault line that was then followed by the Gawdin line in the last minute of play saw the Gulls come close to getting the games opening goal but desperation defense from the home team kept the puck out.

The Gulls knowing they would be in for some sort of response from the IceHogs and managing to hit the first intermission in a scoreless draw with a narrow 12-11 lead in shots.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 0 – Rockford IceHogs 0

It was non stop action to start the second as Rockford continued to press for the games opening goal and the trigger for the teddy bear toss while the Gulls desperately did their best to prevent it.

San Diego weathered the storm and slowly but surely turned the tide as line after line made headway in the Rockford zone before culminating in Glen Gawdin breaking through via a Ben King shot-pass that he neatly deflected at the side of the net and in. 1-0 Gulls.

Going for the jugular the Gulls followed up the goal with more pressure starting with the fourth line and rolling through the others as they quickly took a convincing lead in shots.

But Rockford pushed back and found some rare open ice in the Gulls zone, it took a great defensive play from Olen Zellweger to prevent a sure goal but a hook from Nikita Nesterenko following up on the play put the Gulls down a man for two minutes.

Rockford looked much better with the man advantage than they did last night but the Gulls were still able to kill the minor despite some scares and as they went back to the attack a mistake from the Rockford goaltender ended up in the back of his own net as he went to clear the puck but send it right to Brayden Tracey on the right boards. The Ducks 2019 29th overall pick slamming the early Christmas gift home to make it 2-0 Gulls.

With less than three minutes left in the period it was announced to the arena that the Teddy Bear toss would take place in the second intermission if the IceHogs were unable to score before the periods end, eliciting boo’s from the waiting crowd and music to the Gulls ears.

With the boo’s still serenading around them a two man break from Jacob Perreault and Chase De Leo saw Perreault display some NHL level poise and patience to outwait and then slide across a feed to De Leo past the sliding defender to make it 3-0 Gulls.

San Diego taking a 3-0 lead to the second intermission as well as a steady 24-15 lead, taking control and out-shooting the home team 12-4 on the period. The shot map showing the Gulls well and truly in charge.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 3 – Rockford IceHogs 0

Rockford again tried to come with a push to start the third but the Gulls were wise to their strategy now and stayed strong with their man to man defensive structure.

Once again San Diego weathered the initial storm of attack from Rockford and wore them down before breaking through as Tyson Hinds lead a rush into the zone, handed the puck off and then followed up on the play – finding and depositing the loose change as he snuck in from the side of the net for his first AHL goal. 4-0 Gulls.

Just as it felt as though the Gulls might be cruising to back to back shutout victories – former Gull Logan Nijhoff spoiled the party by getting position in front and deflecting a shot by Suchanek to make it 4-1, bringing some life to the Rockford crowd. 4-1 Gulls.

A Rockford Power Play and additional attacker put on as they pulled their goaltender in the final three minutes and change remaining allowed the Gulls to make it 5-1 as Judd Caulfield finished a play from his own end and hit the empty net in the process. Gulls 5-1.

San Diego continued to play out the remainder of the game with a killers mentality, allowing no quarter as the clearly frustrated IceHogs went down once again. The Gulls taking this one 5-1 and earning points six of their last seven games.

Post Game Notes:

In Praise of Colton White

He doesn’t get nearly enough kudos but Colton White has been a stable and strong defensive partner alongside the exciting and sometimes unpredictable Olen Zellweger. It cannot be overstated enough just how important he has been and will continue to be for the youngsters development. In addition to his stellar defensive work he has also made some underrated breakout passes. He also appears to have accepted his role which is good considering some veterans in the past have balked and made it known through their play that they do not wish to be here.

Looking Ahead

Looking at the schedule ahead the Gull have a real chance to string together a decent winning streak as they face Henderson and Rockford again over the next three games before seeing some tougher opponents in Tucson, Coachella and Ontario. If they can win their next three games and Henderson remains idle they would leap-frog them for the final playoff spot in the Pacific. A feat that seemed almost impossible less than two weeks ago. Even Coachella and Tucson have not been as dominant – sitting around the middle of the Pacific division and could be the perfect opponents for the Gulls to match up with as they try to claw their way back up the division.

Sharing The Load

Playing Suchanek in the back to back was an interesting move and one not often seen in the AHL even when a team is winning. I have to wonder if McIlvane lets Clang have the second game of the back to back during the next home stand with Rockford.

Depth Check

I initially tweeted that I thought Nesterenko would be the call up were the Ducks to require one following on from Mason McTavish’s injury but no call-up came and Anaheim were able to use there current returning-from-injury depth to supplement the hole up front. Now after seeing the Gulls put together these three wins as a team it is really hard to choose any one player as being overwhelming deserving of the call up. Nesterenko was definitely not his head-and-shoulders better self these last two games in Rockford and if you go by the numbers Agozzino is the teams leading scorer right now with Zellweger a hot second. Jacob Perreault and Ben King are quietly keeping pace with 16 and 15 points each – good for fifth and sixth on the team. King has been a pleasant surprise – his scoring ability shouldn’t have been anything new given the kind of numbers he put up in the WHL but I had expected him to need more time to adjust after coming from Junior, clearly his age and size have helped with that.